I'm Only Me When I'm With You
by ThisAccountIsNowInactive354085
Summary: Everything was better this way. Right? BubblegumXMarceline, Sugarless Gum.
1. Prologue

**My first attempt at Bubbline, hopefully it's successful! The title comes from the way I've viewed the show- around everyone but Marceline, Bubblegum is composed and at her princessly best, but around Marceline, she starts acting like an actual teenage girl. Similarly (though not as noticeably), Marceline's cool façade breaks around Bubblegum, such as in the episode What Was Missing. **

**XxxxX**

**I'm Only Me When I'm With You**

**Prologue: It Began With the End**

_**xXLiStLesSXx**_

**XxxxX**

"Come on, Bonnibel, what are you saying?"

"I don't think I can be any clearer than I already have been, Marceline," Bubblegum replied in a haughty voice, though the shaking in her shoulders and uncertainty in her eyes would have given her away, had she not been facing away from the Vampire Queen. "You didn't really think we could always be together, did you? We could _never _be more than this, Marceline, and I thought you knew that!"

The heartbroken petulance written across Marceline's features made it clear that no, she didn't know that. "Why're you making this so hard, Bonnibel?" she asked, her voice lowering into a less angry, more pleading tone. "It doesn't have to be hard."

"You just don't _understand_!" Bubblegum finally exploded, whirling around to face Marceline, tears pouring down her cheeks. A heavy silence followed afterwards.

Making a disgusted face, Marceline shook her head to conceal the tears that were threatening to fall from her own eyes. "No, I guess I don't," she spat. "This is stupid, Bonnibel, you're running from something you don't even know will happen."

"I think I know my kingdom well enough to predict their reaction to my relationship with one of the most feared rulers in Ooo, Marceline," Bubblegum replied in a patronizing tone, her arms folded across her chest. It was a strange sensation, she had been hurting more than anything only a moment before, but now it was as if she'd gone numb, like everything was back to the way it had been before it had all begun. And she was thankful for that small miracle, because it had to be like that; as the future ruler of the Candy Kingdom, Bubblegum could not afford time to get over Marceline and whatever they had. "You're the one making this difficult. Just leave, Marceline."

The vampire queen stood there for several seconds, shell-shocked, before she scoffed and spat at the ground in disdain. "You know, Bonnibel, I kind of hate you when you're like this," she said, before turning and jumping out of the window.

_Out of your life._

Bubblegum stood there for several minutes, as if she weren't quite sure what happened, and then she just _fell apart._

She hit her bed screaming into her pillow, her sobs muffled by the fabric. Why did Marceline have to make everything so hard? Why did she have to _say _that? She didn't hate her, she _couldn't_!

Bitterly, Bubblegum wished Marceline hadn't left so easily, wished she'd done something more to get her to stay. But what would that have done? Only weakened Bubblegum's willpower when she needed more than anything to stay strong.

She had made the right choice, she knew she had.

So what was that queasy, churning feeling in the pit of her gut, the one that was telling her she'd just made the biggest mistake of her life?

That night, she held Marceline's old shirt to her chest, and just lay there, staring at the wall, unable to cry anymore.

**PbXM**

Its two years later and Bubblegum has become the best ruler that the kingdom of Ooo has ever known and made the acquaintance of a plucky young boy named Finn and his magical dog Jake.

He's in love with her, but she pretends not to notice.

One day, she hears that Finn and Jake were kicked out of their house by a mysterious 'previous owner', and she tries not to worry too much about it. Technically, it could have been anyone.

But fate isn't so kind (or maybe it is) to Bubblegum, and only weeks later, Marceline's reappeared in her life, always tooclosetooclosetooclose, always so unreadable, and it's like (_they_) never happened.

Bubblegum's not so stoic- Bubblegum loses her cool and her graceful, royal demeanor around Marceline with even the slightest provocation.

And then Marceline turns out to not be so over her, after all. Then Marceline sings her a song, comes so close to revealing their secret that it isn't even funny, and the worst part is, Bubblegum isn't sure she wanted Marceline to stop.

_"I never said you had to be perfect!"_

But sometimes Bubblegum really wishes she was, because then maybe she'd be able to see through her already crumbling façade, take her in her arms and make everything okay again.

Sometimes it feels as if everything that had seemed so important so long ago is so trivial now, and all that matters is her and Marceline.

But it can't be like that, not now, not while Bubblegum has a kingdom to rule.

Sometimes, she just wishes Marceline could understand instead of looking at her like she'd kicked her puppy to death, because that just makes Bubblegum feel like a horrible person, like she'd made the wrong choice.

And she hadn't, she'd made the best choice for herself, for both of them.

_Right?_

**Please review! They let me know if the story is going well and motivate me to continue writing it.**


	2. One

**Okay, so first chapter! Remember to review if you want more!**

**oOOOo**

**I'm Only Me When I'm With You**

**One: You Never Notice**

_**xXLiStLesSXx**_

**oOOOo**

"So, I guess what I'm saying is…I mean, what I wanted to ask you-"

Jake chose that moment to interrupt Finn's attempt at asking Bubblegum out. "Smooth, man," he said, shrugging when Finn glared at him. "What? You're so obvious."

Finn flushed crimson and Bubblegum couldn't help but smile. "I'm sorry, Finn, but I'm busy tonight with a royal meeting," she said, "But thanks for the invite." She bent down and pressed a kiss to a now-dangerously red Finn's cheek.

A throat cleared behind them, and Bubblegum jumped, turning to face a smirking Marceline. "Hey Finn, still crushing on the princess?" she asked in a sly voice, grinning when Finn turned a whole new shade of red. She hissed at Jake, causing him to flinch away, before turning to Bubblegum. "What's up, Bonnibel?"

"Nothing's 'up', Marceline," Bubblegum replied in annoyance, raising her fingers in air-quotes. "What are you even doing in the Candy Kingdom?" She folded her arms across her chest huffily.

"Calm your cute candy buns, Bonnibel," Marceline drawled, floating around behind Bubblegum, who whipped around to keep eye contact.

Bubblegum's cheeks flushed a dark maroon. "Marceline! That's vulgar!" she cried, stomping one foot on the ground.

Marceline scoffed. "So sorry, Bonnibel, didn't mean to offend. But that's all I'm really good for nowadays, right?" she asked, floating up and assuming a lying down position in the air so that her face was only millimeters from Bubblegum's. The princess felt her breath catch in her throat, felt a familiar pull at her chest and willed herself to keep eye contact with the vampire. "I'm here for the conference," she said, straightening. "Queen, remember?" Marceline pointed to herself.

"As if you ever bother showing up to these events," Bubblegum shot back. "Why did you decide to come _today_?"

Marceline simply shrugged and returned her attention to Finn, causing the shunned Bubblegum to bristle slightly. "So what did where you were gonna take Bonnibel?" she asked casually, as if the princess in question weren't right beside her.

Bubblegum huffed and stormed back into the castle, leaving Marceline alone with Finn and Jake.

**PBXM**

Marceline watched as Bubblegum stormed into the castle, her eyes remaining on the pink ruler for perhaps a second longer than they maybe should have. After the princess was inside, she turned back to Fin with a sly smile masking her inner feelings. "So?"

Finn sighed. "I was just going to ask her if she wanted to go to the movies with me, only, like, on a d-date this time," he said, averting his eyes as his cheeks flushed. "You know, like- w-with kissing."

"Ha, I knew you wanted her, man!" Jake laughed from beside Finn, clapping his best friend on the back. Marceline, on the other hand, was struggling to keep her composure.

It wasn't as if she were _jealous _or anything, because I mean, how likely was it that Bubblegum would _ever _date him? Marceline felt bad and all for the poor kid, but he and Bubblegum were clearly not going to happen. A smirk teased at the corners of her lips at the thought- usually watching Finn interact with Bubblegum was cute, but sometimes, when Bubblegum would entertain Finn's crush, her possessive side would peek out and, being a vampire and all, she'd have a hell of a time trying to hide it.

"Marceline? Marcy?"

Marceline blinked out of her Bubblegum-induced stupor. "Huh? Oh, yeah, she'll love that," she said with a wink, floating around behind Finn.

The boy sighed and there was silence for a moment before, "What happened with you and Peebles?"

Marceline floated back around to face him, her eyebrows raised. "What do you mean? Nothing happened between me and Bonnibel."

"I mean, when we fought the Door Lord, you two were getting along and all, but now it's like you two hate each other again," he said.

"Girls are complicated, man," Jake said in means of an explanation, while Marceline hesitated.

"I don't hate Bonnibel or anything," she said, though the memory of…_that _night swam up to the top of her head unbidden. "We're just…too different." Her eyes took on the same look she'd worn on that night with the Door Lord for a moment before her features returned to normal.

Finn sighed. "I don't get girls."

Marceline laughed despite herself. "Me neither," she said. "Well, I'll see you guys later, okay?" She waved to the two as she floated off towards the castle after Bubblegum.

**PBXM**

"Aww, don't tell me I'm the only one who showed up for your party, Bonnie," Marceline drawled as she floated into the conference room only to find herself alone with Bubblegum.

"Very funny, Marceline," Bubblegum replied. "In case you hadn't noticed, you're two hours early." She turned to Marceline from her science kit that she had out on the table. "Now can you _please _be quiet and let me work?" She huffed. "The one time I had some time to myself…"

Marceline let the words brush off of her, as she had become accustomed to when dealing with Bubblegum. On certain occasions, she could make a bit of the old Bubblegum come out, and she would take pride in knowing that she was the only one who could bring out Bubblegum's true self. "You wound me, Bonnibel," she replied with a toothy grin, floating over to Bubblegum and turning so that she was lying on her back in midair. "Stake to the heart and all that."

Bubblegum sighed and rolled her eyes. "Just keep quiet, okay? I'm on the verge of a scientific breakthrough."

Marceline raised an eyebrow. "Another zombie infestation? Should I warn the Candy People?" she asked in a playfully teasing tone, smirking like the cat that ate the canary.

Bubblegum growled in annoyance. "Shut. _Up_, Marceline!" she finally snapped, flushing bright red. Judging by the positively feline grin the gray girl was wearing, that was exactly the reaction Marceline had been waiting for. "_Ugh_! You're so…you're just so…"

"Brilliant? Awesome? _Sexy_?"

"_Infuriating_!" Bubblegum cried, causing Marceline to grin and sit on top of the table that the princess was working on, straddling the lab equipment and the pink girl's torso. When Bubblegum tried to work around her, the gray girl took her test tube tray and floated out of the princess's reach. "You're such a butt, Marceline!"

"Oooh, nasty language, princess," Marceline drawled, grinning as she floated lower, back within Bubblegum's reach. The pink girl snatched the test tubes from Marceline as soon as she was within reach. "You seriously need to relax, let loose or something. Stop being so serious all the time, Bonnibel, it's bad for your _health_."

Marceline's face had morphed from playful to somewhat hurt and painfully obviously dejected in less than the time it took her to say the two sentences, and her eyes rested on Bubblegum, who was determinedly looking the other direction. "Do you just show emotion when it suits you, Marceline?" Bubblegum asked, determined to keep her tone neutral. "You're always teasing me and picking on me, but as soon as-"

"Cut the martyred crap, Bonnibel," Marceline scoffed, scowling, her gaze now averted to anywhere but the princess. "I'm seriously getting tired of this whole 'damsel in distress' thing you've got going on. The princess I knew didn't need some thirteen-year-old kid to rescue her every other day."

Finally looking up from her work, Bubblegum stood, hands pressed against the table. "What does Finn have to do with anything, Marceline?"

The vampire shrugged, still staring off petulantly in some other direction. "Why don't you tell me? You're the one who's always leading him on," she stated with a sneer, arms folded over her chest defiantly. "For glob's sake, Bonnibel, he's just a kid, you're gonna break his heart one of these days making him think you'll return his feelings. But that's okay for you, isn't it? As long as you're not the one hurting, right, _princess_?"

Bubblegum bristled; the rational part of her mind was telling her there was something more behind Marceline's words, but there was nothing _rational _about her feelings for Marceline, was there? "Who says I'll never return his feelings, Marceline?" she bit back, swelling with an unreasonable pride (and a bit of something else) when the vampire winced noticeably.

But Marceline recovered quickly, finally turning to face Bubblegum again. "He _loves _you, Bonnibel," she said in a patronizing tone, then dove down in a sudden movement, putting her face only inches from the pink girl's. She hovered there for a moment, basking in the feeling of all of Bubblegum's attention resting on her once again. "And you don't love anyone. That's gonna be kind of a problem eventually."

Bubblegum opened her mouth to reply, and then snapped it shut when no words seemed to be coming out. Marceline smiled dryly and floated back, allowing the princess to breathe again. "I don't really feel like staying for one of these boring meetings after all," Marceline said in a casual tone. "I'll see you around, Bonnibel."

Bubblegum watched her go, lips parted slightly in awe of what had just happened.

"You were never going to stay," she whispered quietly to herself- she knew Marceline well enough to know that the vampire queen would never willingly sit through one of these 'boring' meetings.

"So why did you come at all?"

**Please review! **


	3. Two

**Second chapter, thanks for all the reviews!**

**oOOOo**

**I'm Only Me When I'm With You**

**Two: White Flag**

_**xXLiStLesSXx**_

**oOOOo**

Bubblegum didn't see Marceline for two weeks after the previous incident, something that, her pride prevented her from admitting, affected her more than she'd calculated for. She was ashamed to say that after having gotten used to seeing Marceline on a more regular basis, her feelings of numbness had begun to wear off at a rapid pace, replaced by a strong sense of longing whenever she was near the vampire queen. Longing for _what_, exactly, she wasn't quite sure- longing to be held by her, longing for just one more kiss, just one more moment to prove to her that maybe there was a chance after all.

_Longing to be _loved.

And at the same time, Bubblegum was terrified of seeing Marceline again, now, at her weakest, when she was absolutely positive that she would fall back into the vampire's arms if only the gray girl said the word. But Marceline would never do that- no, despite being sly and playful, Marceline was surprisingly chivalrous when it came to giving Bubblegum her space.

But what if she didn't _want _space? What if she wanted to be slapped back to her senses, to be brought crashing down from her high horse? What if she wanted to see whether Marceline still cared enough to _try_?

Because really, Bubblegum might have been a princess, but she was (around Marceline, at least) only a girl; only a selfish, teenage girl who, no matter what she said to the contrary, really wanted her own happiness above all else. The difference was that she knew how to ignore that selfish part of her.

"Something that _someone _obviously has problems _understanding_," Bubblegum muttered to herself, unaware of her audience.

"Um…hey, PB," Finn said, causing the princess to jump and face him. He and Jake were only a few feet away from her in the royal courtyard, Finn staring down at his feet and Jake grinning knowingly. "Jake and I were wondering-"

"Nah, man, _you _were wondering," Jake corrected, causing Finn's cheeks to go bright red.

"Jake!" the boy cried out in indignation. Sighing, he turned back to Bubblegum, who was watching with amusement. "Did you want to come to our movie night tomorrow? Like the ones we used to have, with everyone there."

_Everyone…does that mean…?_

"And that's including Marceline, by the way," Jake added, "so if you two could try and get along and all, that'd be great."

"_Jake_," Finn chastised, but Bubblegum shook her head.

"It's fine, Finn, and yes, _I _can get along just fine with Marceline, Jake," she said. "Though I'm not so sure about _her_. I'll see you guys tomorrow night, okay?"

She watched as Finn gave a fist pump as the two walked away, a distant cry of "Mathematical!" reaching her ears. Bubblegum giggled, the nervousness she felt in her gut disappearing for only a moment before her thoughts returned to Marceline.

But wait, why was she thinking about that vampire in the first place? Bubblegum huffed and rolled her eyes. Everything would be fine- surely they could spend _one night _together without anything changing.

**PBXM**

Of course, telling herself that and actually following through with it were two entirely different things, as Bubblegum soon discovered. When she arrived for the movie night, Marceline was already there, along with several more of their friends. The vampire queen was sprawled out in Bubblegum's favorite chair, smirking at the princess, and Bubblegum growled to herself.

Marceline could just as well be floating- in fact, she would probably _rather _be floating than stretched out in the chair. She was deliberately provoking her, the princess knew- so why couldn't she just let it go?

"Marceline, you're in my seat," she stated matter-of-factly, glaring down at the smirking vampire.

"Sorry, PB, there's no assigned seating, remember?" Finn's voice carried out to the living room area from the kitchen. "The couch is free, though, you can sit with me."

Marceline's face twisted into a brief, blink-and-you'll-miss-it frown; if Bubblegum hadn't been watching for a reaction, she wouldn't have caught it. As it was, she did, and took the opportunity to direct a haughty smirk towards the vampire, who replied with a sneer of her own. "Thanks, Finn," Bubblegum called out to the boy. "I think I'd like that."

"I bet you would," Marceline mumbled under her breath. Bubblegum glared down at her. "Stringing him along like that's cruel, Bonnie."

Bubblegum huffed. "And you'd know all about cruel, wouldn't you, Marceline?" she shot back. "And besides, I'm hardly 'stringing him along', I've never once given him any sign that I returned his feelings." Marceline scoffed at this, causing the pink girl to bristle. "Why don't you stop being such a butt and admit that you're just _jealous_?"

"Jealous? Of _Finn_?" the vampire replied in an incredulous tone. "Dream on, princess."

Bubblegum's lips curled into a proud smirk. "I never said you were jealous of _Finn_," she replied in an obnoxiously omniscient tone. Marceline twitched.

"Okay, girls, come on, break it up," Finn said as he entered the room, sitting on the couch cushion closest to the chair, while Bubblegum flounced huffily onto his other side. Marceline growled under her breath. "Please, Marceline, PB, just try and get along, okay? Tonight's supposed to be fun. What happened to all that bonding when we got our stuff back from the Door Lord?"

Marceline's eyes instantly snapped to Bubblegum, who shied away from her gaze, staring determinedly off to the left. The vampire queen scowled and rolled her eyes, directing her own vision in the opposite direction, leaving Finn standing there without an answer. Finn sighed and walked back into the kitchen area, where Jake was waiting for him.

"Girls, man," Jake said, shaking his head. "C'mon, let's get the drinks."

**PBXM**

Sometime during the movie, Bubblegum had drifted off to sleep on a blushing Finn's shoulder. She woke expecting to see a red face and hear a round of adorable stuttering only to find herself staring into a pair of dark, mischievous eyes. Somehow, Bubblegum had gone from resting against Finn's shoulder to sleeping in Marceline's arms since the last time she opened her eyes.

"_Marceline_!" she hissed, tensing instantly as her eyes searched the room for signs that someone had noticed their position. "Let go of me at once!"

The vampire held up her hands in surrender. "I'm not holding you here, Bonnibel, you're the one lying on top of me."

Bubblegum scoffed, but didn't move; it was as if her body wouldn't let her, not after so much deprivation. "Right, like I got to be here by myself," she stated, rolling her eyes. "Last thing I knew, you were on that chair over there."

Marceline shrugged. "Finn's too scrawny to make a good pillow for your princessly head."

Laughing in disbelief, Bubblegum turned to face Marceline, her eyes scanning the skinny figure beneath her reflexively. "Like you're one to talk, Marceline," she replied hotly, flipping her hair aside and staring determinedly at the movie screen, completely oblivious to the fact that she had yet to leave Marceline's arms.

She felt the vampire sigh behind her, felt a pair of surprisingly strong arms tighten around her waist. "Whaddaya say to a truce, Bonnie?" Marceline asked, resting her chin against Bubblegum's shoulder as she spoke, so that no one else could hear their conversation.

Bubblegum tensed, glad for the darkness of the room so that the vampire couldn't see the magenta hue pasted over her cheeks. Her heart was racing in her chest in a way that made her feel as though she'd been dead for years. "What would this truce entail, Marceline?" she asked, training her voice to be as steady as possible, though judging by the smirk she could see out of the corner of her eye, she wasn't very successful.

She felt Marceline shrug behind her and tried not to lean into the vampire's arms. "Let's just get along, okay, Bonnie? For those two," she said, nodding towards Finn and Jake, "for us."

"_We _don't have a problem," Bubblegum replied stubbornly.

Marceline groaned. "Quit being like this, the longer we pretend nothing's going on, the more complicated everything's gonna get."

"Nothing _is _going on, Marceline."

The vampire sighed and loosened her grip on Bubblegum. "Look, are you gonna agree to this truce or not?" she asked. "It's not a one way thing."

"I don't see why it's necessary at all," Bubblegum quipped, "But I guess it can't hurt. No more teasing me though," she added as an afterthought, brows morphing into a frown at the thought of Marceline's constantly gibing.

She felt the vampire chuckle against the base of her neck and resisted the urge to shudder in pleasure. "You know me better than that, Bonnibel," Marceline drawled, licking up the column of the pink girl's neck.

Bubblegum shot away from Marceline as if she were possessed, quickly putting as much distance between her and the vampire as possible. Marceline looked slightly shocked at how quickly the princess had moved, before her face transformed into one of bitterness, and then into her usual apathetic smile.

**Please review! They let me know if the story is going well and motivate me to continue writing it.**


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